Nevertheless, we do recommend that you also read below for important information (e.g. that if you are coming to the SF event, you need to bring your lunch with you!). And Please note that the D.C. event has limited capacity, so it makes sense to register now rather than wait. Full refunds will be available before April 9, though only partial refunds till May 9, and no refunds at all after that (because we will be turning people away based on the assumption that your seat is filled).

The best way to stop the growth of a fascistic Right in the U.S. and the know-nothingism of the Tea Party fanatics and right-wing fundamentalism is to rebuild the movement that Obama managed to put together in 2008, based on a vision of caring for others and the world that he has failed to embody adequately in his presidency. It is not about bashing Obama, but about building on the hopeful energies and the suddenly visible manifestation of humanity craving for a new way of being in the world, the disappointment of which now leads to deep disillusionment and despair. We can't indulge that else we face far worse.
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Well, it looks like The American Prospect Magazine has caught up with where Tikkun has been for a long time--recognizing how self-destructive it has been for Obama to position himself as an inside-the-Beltway "realist/pragmatist" that won the praise of E.J. Dionne for not being too-ideological. All those who said "shhh, be quiet, don't criticize what he's doing" actually participated in the proces as enablers of Obama's self-destructive path.
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Peter Drier's articles appear in Tikkun magazine from time to time.
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One of our main concerns, which Dr. John Geyman doesn't address in the following critique of the Health Care Act: the inclusion in the House bill of a hard-line anti-choice provision, despite earlier promises that this reform would be neutral on the longstanding abortion debate. Many are angry at Nancy Pelosi who promised to allow a vote on the Kucinich Amendment that would have allowed each state to opt-in to a single payer plan if they so chose, then at the last moment refused to allow that vote on the Floor of the House. Meanwhile, she allowed the anti-abortion Amendment to come to the floor where it passed with overwhelming support of the Republicans who then voted against the whole bill.

Not all of us at Tikkun or in the Network of Spiritual Progressives agree with Dr. Geyman's conclusion, even while we all think that this article is a rather important statement. Some believe that the reforms in the bill passed are better than nothing, and that later reforms of the reform might fix the errors in this version. Others agree with Geyman that once instituted, this approach to "reform" will be hard to change for decades to come, the abortion provision outrageous, and the further institutionalization of the insurance companies and health care profiteers and pharmaceuticals elements that make the whole thing worse than nothing. (On our website, our blog TikkunDaily and in our magazine, we print many articles with positions that do not necessarily reflect our own views--it's part of our notion of how one gets to the deepest truths, by allowing vigorous debate. Our views are presented only in our editorials. But even if you don't agree with the positions in articles we print, post on our website or blog, or send out, we think that what we present our ideas with which we believe we ought to be grappling).